My first Hybrid rental car

While in California, I thought I would try (again) to rent a Hybrid. Luckily, the rental company had a Toyota Camry Hybrid. This time I was able to figure out how to start the darn thing. Last time I was out here, I could not figure out how to start the Prius. I could turn on the power (there is no key with Toyota, only a key fob), but could never get the engine to engage or start. Seems you have to keep your foot on the brake for a couple of seconds, then the power button turns green and you press and hold the power button - bingo, to starts - in electric mode at first, then the engine fires once you put it in gear.

My first impression is the brakes are extremely touchy, but work well. On my ~31 mile drive down the 101 to Mountain View, in rush hour traffic, I got a little better than 50 mpg!

There is even a little gauge on the steering column that gives instant feedback on how well you've done on mpg. If you do a good job, the gauge displays "Excellent!". Very funny and does cause the driver to potentially treat driving and gasoline economy as a game.

Only concern is that when stopped for more than 30 seconds, the engine seems to go dormant and then when you press the accelerator, it is not instantaneous like a pure gas engine. This aside, an overall a good experience so far. Very zippy and responsive.

Back to work...